When a co-worker calls your extension to discuss something, and you can hear him speaking through your other ear because he is right around the corner, that is a work foul. I get co-worker in stereo, except the right channel is a little tinny.
On the other hand, I could easily see talking to my boss like that (he sits 30 feet away, directly behind me) just to be retarded.
"Hello, R?"
"Yes Aaron?"
"Can I show you this spreadsheet?"
"Sure."
"Okay, turn around."
Friday, July 25, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Pop-culture cross-breeds
I was re-reading Prince Caspian from the Narnia books on the flight to Georgia this morning, and I happened upon a funny paragraph that never really caught me before.
It comes after the Pevinses children and Trumpkin the dwarf kill a wild bear (not a talking bear) that ambushes their party:
... this from a book that was written in 1951, three years before I Am Legend was originally published, 18 years before Night of the Living Dead, and a good 50 years before 28 Days Later. Granted, I'm sure Lewis meant it as Christian allegory (it is a Narnia book, after all), but zombies, vampires, and doppelgangers were the first thing that popped into my head when I read about little Lucy and her worries.
It comes after the Pevinses children and Trumpkin the dwarf kill a wild bear (not a talking bear) that ambushes their party:
"Such a horrible idea has come into my head, Su."
"What's that?"
"Wouldn't it be dreadful if some day in our own world, at home, men started going wild inside, like the animals here and still looked like men, so that you'd never know which were which?"
... this from a book that was written in 1951, three years before I Am Legend was originally published, 18 years before Night of the Living Dead, and a good 50 years before 28 Days Later. Granted, I'm sure Lewis meant it as Christian allegory (it is a Narnia book, after all), but zombies, vampires, and doppelgangers were the first thing that popped into my head when I read about little Lucy and her worries.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
I am Andy Rooney
Hey, time for me to complain again.
For the past week, I've been away on business. That means I've been eating out a lot. A lot to me would be twice a week, but this is every meal. There are only so many restaurants in the Alpharetta area, so we've gone to a couple of them more than once.
One place is an upscale (i.e. expensive) deli. And eating there twice, I can now firmly put my finger on what I hate about sandwiches at restaurants.
Keep in mind, that this hate is limited purely to sandwiches at restaurants; at home a sandwich can be the greatest food item ever. With the right bread, condiments and trimmings, it can be a square meal in and of itself. I recall some ham sandwiches piled high with alfalfa sprouts on home-made dill bread from my youth that touched on enlightening... but I digress.
Restaurant sandwiches usually have very good trimmings. There's a variety of stuff to put on it, all kinds of dressings, mayonnaises, mustards, roasted vegetables, and everything else that makes a good sandwich great. The bread isn't usually stellar, but it is rarely bad. They are usually overloaded with meat too; up to a quarter pound of the "body" of the sandwich. The fact that they are made by somebody else can only help their case. So what do these sandwiches lack?
Structural integrity.
If you get a turkey on wheat from a deli, you get a ball of shredded turkey that is slapped between two pieces of bread with some shredded lettuce and a couple tomatoes all in the center of the bread. And then, they cut it in half for you. Of course, when you cut a ball in half, it's going to just fall apart, so they use a couple fancy toothpicks to hold it together. When you try to eat it, you either start in the middle and eat all the meat out of the bread, or you start at the edge and half the meat falls out.
This is unacceptable.
A sandwich should stay together using nothing but the force of gravity. It's really simple how to make it work: spread that meat out. Don't make it a ball. Make it a layer, not unlike another piece of bread. Then put your stuff on top (evenly, not center-loaded), and the last piece of bread. If you must cut it in half, it will stay together this way.
Jason's Deli: I'm talking to you.
For the past week, I've been away on business. That means I've been eating out a lot. A lot to me would be twice a week, but this is every meal. There are only so many restaurants in the Alpharetta area, so we've gone to a couple of them more than once.
One place is an upscale (i.e. expensive) deli. And eating there twice, I can now firmly put my finger on what I hate about sandwiches at restaurants.
Keep in mind, that this hate is limited purely to sandwiches at restaurants; at home a sandwich can be the greatest food item ever. With the right bread, condiments and trimmings, it can be a square meal in and of itself. I recall some ham sandwiches piled high with alfalfa sprouts on home-made dill bread from my youth that touched on enlightening... but I digress.
Restaurant sandwiches usually have very good trimmings. There's a variety of stuff to put on it, all kinds of dressings, mayonnaises, mustards, roasted vegetables, and everything else that makes a good sandwich great. The bread isn't usually stellar, but it is rarely bad. They are usually overloaded with meat too; up to a quarter pound of the "body" of the sandwich. The fact that they are made by somebody else can only help their case. So what do these sandwiches lack?
Structural integrity.
If you get a turkey on wheat from a deli, you get a ball of shredded turkey that is slapped between two pieces of bread with some shredded lettuce and a couple tomatoes all in the center of the bread. And then, they cut it in half for you. Of course, when you cut a ball in half, it's going to just fall apart, so they use a couple fancy toothpicks to hold it together. When you try to eat it, you either start in the middle and eat all the meat out of the bread, or you start at the edge and half the meat falls out.
This is unacceptable.
A sandwich should stay together using nothing but the force of gravity. It's really simple how to make it work: spread that meat out. Don't make it a ball. Make it a layer, not unlike another piece of bread. Then put your stuff on top (evenly, not center-loaded), and the last piece of bread. If you must cut it in half, it will stay together this way.
Jason's Deli: I'm talking to you.
Monday, June 9, 2008
TSA: Another winner
This blog has basically become a platform for bitching, but whatever. Look at this!
http://www.tsa.gov/press/happenings/enhance_id_requirements.shtm
You can't get through security if you refuse to show ID anymore. However, if you forgot or misplaced your ID, you can still get through.
So: if you are a terrorist, just say you forgot your license. If you have your license but don't want to show it to a dubious government agency that has the most visibly inconsistent policies, and most obtrusive security measures, you won't be able to fly.
http://www.tsa.gov/press/happenings/enhance_id_requirements.shtm
You can't get through security if you refuse to show ID anymore. However, if you forgot or misplaced your ID, you can still get through.
So: if you are a terrorist, just say you forgot your license. If you have your license but don't want to show it to a dubious government agency that has the most visibly inconsistent policies, and most obtrusive security measures, you won't be able to fly.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Another boring religion post
I read this mock-interview, and it really covers a lot of good points. Considering it was written by one dude, and that it covers both points of view pretty fairly, I think it's pretty good:
A conversation with Tim Keller
The main topic is: How Atheists and Christians can have discussions of philosophy without stabbing each other.
A conversation with Tim Keller
The main topic is: How Atheists and Christians can have discussions of philosophy without stabbing each other.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
One of the big problems with religion is that it attracts morons
Pray-in at S.F. gas station asks God to lower prices.
This is just so depressing, on so many levels. Humanity has developed its society to be pretty damn-near dependent on a limited, unrenewable resource. We have known this for decades, at least half as long as we have been using it. Once you take into account all the hundreds of other factors that influence the cost of gasoline (location, refineries operating, weather, whim of whomever is in charge...) it can be pretty well reasoned that it is basically our own fault that gas prices are high, and it is our own fault that we even care that gas prices are high.
This guy is praying to God, the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient deity that created the entire universe, to lower the price of gasoline. Because He has nothing better to do than save you from trading a few more green pieces of paper for some smelly liquid.
At any given moment, there are genocides being committed, natural habitats being destroyed, and our environment is being polluted beyond recognition. But this guy wants God to let him pay less for gas.
Now, I'm not saying that nobody has ever prayed to God for something that's in their own self-interest. People pray before basketball games, before they put on plays, heck, before most meals my family prays that our personal meals was blessed by the Heavenly Creator himself. This isn't uncommon, and it isn't bad. So clearly, God can sweat the small stuff.
But this guy is having a pray-in. With the news reporting on it. If I prayed for a new bike:
(and Kate would be mad at me if I did), that's one thing. If I start trying to get everybody else to join me in group prayer at the bike shop, that's pretty stupid. A large newspaper writing a story on it is epically retarded. But, a blogger writing about it with righteous indignation is divine.
So, my recommendation to this religious "leader" by the gas station: start praying for a bike. At home.
This is just so depressing, on so many levels. Humanity has developed its society to be pretty damn-near dependent on a limited, unrenewable resource. We have known this for decades, at least half as long as we have been using it. Once you take into account all the hundreds of other factors that influence the cost of gasoline (location, refineries operating, weather, whim of whomever is in charge...) it can be pretty well reasoned that it is basically our own fault that gas prices are high, and it is our own fault that we even care that gas prices are high.
This guy is praying to God, the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient deity that created the entire universe, to lower the price of gasoline. Because He has nothing better to do than save you from trading a few more green pieces of paper for some smelly liquid.
At any given moment, there are genocides being committed, natural habitats being destroyed, and our environment is being polluted beyond recognition. But this guy wants God to let him pay less for gas.
Now, I'm not saying that nobody has ever prayed to God for something that's in their own self-interest. People pray before basketball games, before they put on plays, heck, before most meals my family prays that our personal meals was blessed by the Heavenly Creator himself. This isn't uncommon, and it isn't bad. So clearly, God can sweat the small stuff.
But this guy is having a pray-in. With the news reporting on it. If I prayed for a new bike:
(and Kate would be mad at me if I did), that's one thing. If I start trying to get everybody else to join me in group prayer at the bike shop, that's pretty stupid. A large newspaper writing a story on it is epically retarded. But, a blogger writing about it with righteous indignation is divine.
So, my recommendation to this religious "leader" by the gas station: start praying for a bike. At home.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Weekend of Adventure! And then lazy.
Saturday, I went mountain biking. Super fun. Until this happened. I was going down a trail full of little jumpy-things. I came upon a bigger-jumpy thing, and went slow so I wouldn't launch myself into the stratosphere. Approaching it, it looked like this:
Since it was my first time on the trail, I didn't know that it actually looked like this:
And, because I was going slow, I landed like this:
So, needless to say, I got tossed. Hard. A lot of rolling, sliding, and a little bleeding. But I came up relatively unscathed. Which is saying a lot, because my riding buddy had just broken his foot at the top of this little trail. He got a little bit of shadenfreude in, so at least I helped him out.
Sunday was soooo lazy it was awesome. We watched a couple episodes of "The Universe", a PBS series that came recommended by Kate's dad. We just got finished watching Planet Earth, and I thought it would be kind of like that - super-dry, just footage with a boring narrator.
NO WAY! It had more animations and graphics than I have ever seen. Including some depressingly poor animations of a meteor striking Big Ben. I had a lot of gripes about their misrepresentations of scale (showing the sun as about 4 times the size of the earth and about 5 earth-diameters away), and certain omissions (neglecting to say that photons are massless), but it was pretty interesting nonetheless.
And there was no shortage of unfathomable figures thrown at us: The force of 100 million Hiroshima bombs! The 100-billion times the mass of Mount Everest! How to they quanitify that? Where does the mass of Mount Everest end? At base camp? At 5,000 feet? At the ocean? Everything within a 10-mile radius of the peak? Seriously.
Then I played a lot of this:
For those of you who own a Wii and never had a gamecube, go to your local used-game store, buy a used GC controller, and get a copy of this. I maintain that it is one of the greatest games of all time, and is cute and awesome too. So much fun. It just can't be stopped. Usually Zelda games don't have a lot of replayability, but for some reason Windwaker works.
Also, we filled up Kate's car with gas and it cost a ton of money. I feel really guilty about driving to work again... time to get riding.
Since it was my first time on the trail, I didn't know that it actually looked like this:
And, because I was going slow, I landed like this:
So, needless to say, I got tossed. Hard. A lot of rolling, sliding, and a little bleeding. But I came up relatively unscathed. Which is saying a lot, because my riding buddy had just broken his foot at the top of this little trail. He got a little bit of shadenfreude in, so at least I helped him out.
Sunday was soooo lazy it was awesome. We watched a couple episodes of "The Universe", a PBS series that came recommended by Kate's dad. We just got finished watching Planet Earth, and I thought it would be kind of like that - super-dry, just footage with a boring narrator.
NO WAY! It had more animations and graphics than I have ever seen. Including some depressingly poor animations of a meteor striking Big Ben. I had a lot of gripes about their misrepresentations of scale (showing the sun as about 4 times the size of the earth and about 5 earth-diameters away), and certain omissions (neglecting to say that photons are massless), but it was pretty interesting nonetheless.
And there was no shortage of unfathomable figures thrown at us: The force of 100 million Hiroshima bombs! The 100-billion times the mass of Mount Everest! How to they quanitify that? Where does the mass of Mount Everest end? At base camp? At 5,000 feet? At the ocean? Everything within a 10-mile radius of the peak? Seriously.
Then I played a lot of this:
For those of you who own a Wii and never had a gamecube, go to your local used-game store, buy a used GC controller, and get a copy of this. I maintain that it is one of the greatest games of all time, and is cute and awesome too. So much fun. It just can't be stopped. Usually Zelda games don't have a lot of replayability, but for some reason Windwaker works.
Also, we filled up Kate's car with gas and it cost a ton of money. I feel really guilty about driving to work again... time to get riding.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Blogging Boston
Okay, I ran the Boston marathon this weekend. I'll try and kind of organize this a little, so day by day, here's what we did:
Saturday - Kate and I drove up to Boston in the morning and got lunch with Jen. Jen told us she wanted to go to some place to get an omelette, and we were up for anything, so we went and ate. She took us to "some place in Central Square" in Cambridge... yeah, it was The Middle East.
I'd only been there before to see American Steel and the Murder City Devils back on '02, so it was kind of weird. Good kebabs, though.
Jen is a fun person to hang out with. Because she is single, she is constantly letting us know whether she thinks random dudes are attractive or not, and letting us know which sketchy dudes are hitting on her when she rides her bike and stuff. It's a side of the world that we married folk are not normally privy to.
After hanging out with Jen for the rest of the afternoon, we took her to Kate's brother's house to meet their new puppy and eat some thai food. It was great, and the puppy was cute and mega-exciteable. Then we went to sleep.
Sunday - Sunday we got up early and Kristen met us at Kate's brother's house to go watch the US Women's Marathon Trials in Cambridge. It was a ton of fun! We got to see some of the fastest women in the country just tear around the course... so fast. And we got very close to some famous people for a very short amount of time! Aside from the great race between Magdalena (gutsy race, ran way out ahead from the beginning from what we could tell) and Deena, we were wicked pumped to see Joan Benoit Samuelson go out there and kill it! She is 50, and she ran a 2:49, setting an age-group record, among her other dozens of notable racing accomplishments. We got some decent photos:
That is Joan with about a mile or two to go to the finish. Incredible! And here is a picture that we took of what really looked like two young boys making out with each other on the grass. It was really weird.
The rest of the day was spent eating, playing with the puppy, and playing video games. I highly recommend video games for day-before-the-race jitters. I may make Windwaker a pre-marathon tradition.
Monday - or - The Best Laid Plans
Ha ha ha, I'm so dramatic it's awesome. Kate and I woke up on time and I crapped as much as I could (if toilet discussion turns your stomach, you'd best switch blogs, because I love to talk about my crappin'). Crapping mid-run plagued my marathon training, and nothing puts a damper on a race more than having to crap in the middle of it. Anywho, I crapped. I ate a bagel, and Kate, with a trooper-like grimace, drove me into the heart of Boston to drop me off. I got in line to ride the buses to Hopkinton.
The way the start was organized was this: There were two waves, one leaving at 10 AM, the other at 10:30 AM. The people in Wave 1 wore bib numbers 1-13,999, and 14,000 and up were in wave 2.
Immediately I noticed that a lot of the people in line had bib numbers WAY higher than 14,000, even though they weren't supposed to get on the buses until 7 AM. Jerks. After a 1 hour bus ride to go 26 miles (booo) I arrived at the athlete's villate. I've never seen more porta-potties. And they were all in use. Mind-boggling.
After an hour or two of waiting around, we went to the start line. More waiting, this time in our individual corrals (1000 people/corral, I was #4056, so I was in corral 4). After a while I finally ditched the sweatshirt that Kate's brother gave me to wear and throw away, and the garbage-bag pants that I was wearing. Both were very necessary, because it was cold in the early morning, around 40 degrees or so.
When the gun went off, there was a lot of stop-and-go, but eventually I crossed the starting line and started to move. My first 8 miles all kind of blended together. I was trying hard to hold back, especially because of the downhills, but I couldn't go slower than 6:45/mile.
After 15 miles, I started to feel the tinge of pain in my left thigh. I knew what that meant, so I started taking water and gatorade at the stops (previously I had just been drinking from my fuel belt). At 18 miles, I was starting to hurt enough to walk the uphills. That sucked. Those hills were not fun. I was already looking for the next mile marker constantly. I pushed through the hills of Newton, and eventually made it down the other side of Heartbreak. I walked a lot of the last few miles, I was going pretty slow. My last few splits were 9:30 or so. But, luckily, I had enough time in the bank that it wasn't too terrible of a finish, and I had enough left in the tank to finish the last mile running nearly the entire way.
At the finish, I waded through the staggering masses and tried to get to my baggage buss. I was really annoyed with all the people who were taking their time, because I just wanted to get out of there. I got my bag quickly (very quickly, actually), and looked around... no Kate. That was our designated meeting point, so I was kind of bummed. I waited around for another 10 minutes, and started to get cold, so I pulled my mylar blanket close. It actually worked! It's the first time I've ever needed one of those things and it came through in the clutch. Way to go mylar.
Anywho, I called up Kate with a volunteer's phone (super-nice lady), and I found out that they were stuck in Newton because the trains were full. So I got on a train to Newton (runners ride free on Monday!) and met them there. Kate was crying, but I was just happy to see her. Then we went to Kate's brothers house and relaxed and I showered and ate super-fast and then Kate drove me to the airport.
Race-wise, I shouldn't have really been surprised, because I went too fast on my long runs. On my 20-mile long run, my legs were hurting and I was beat at the end, so I really shouldn't have been too surprised when that happened during the race. It's probably a combination of not enough base training and going out too fast.
Altogether, I'm not too disappointed because 3:13 isn't a bad time. It's 7 minutes slower than my qualifying time, which is pretty standard because most people qualify on an easier course. But, on the other hand, I kind of feel like a slacker for feeling satisfied, since it's really nowhere near where I wanted to run, and I really should have done better. I think if I had started training seriously earlier it would have helped a lot. I basically took off about 4 months after Cincinnatti and it showed. So, less of a break this time. I was only able to do as well as I did because of the constant encouragement and support of Kate "little coach" Nydam Meberg. She absolutely made sure that I didn't get lazy during my training, so my finisher's medal is at least half hers.
Okay, that's enough sap. Read nydampress for Kate's perspective. It was a fun weekend, but my legs still hurt (seriously ouch).
Saturday - Kate and I drove up to Boston in the morning and got lunch with Jen. Jen told us she wanted to go to some place to get an omelette, and we were up for anything, so we went and ate. She took us to "some place in Central Square" in Cambridge... yeah, it was The Middle East.
I'd only been there before to see American Steel and the Murder City Devils back on '02, so it was kind of weird. Good kebabs, though.
Jen is a fun person to hang out with. Because she is single, she is constantly letting us know whether she thinks random dudes are attractive or not, and letting us know which sketchy dudes are hitting on her when she rides her bike and stuff. It's a side of the world that we married folk are not normally privy to.
After hanging out with Jen for the rest of the afternoon, we took her to Kate's brother's house to meet their new puppy and eat some thai food. It was great, and the puppy was cute and mega-exciteable. Then we went to sleep.
Sunday - Sunday we got up early and Kristen met us at Kate's brother's house to go watch the US Women's Marathon Trials in Cambridge. It was a ton of fun! We got to see some of the fastest women in the country just tear around the course... so fast. And we got very close to some famous people for a very short amount of time! Aside from the great race between Magdalena (gutsy race, ran way out ahead from the beginning from what we could tell) and Deena, we were wicked pumped to see Joan Benoit Samuelson go out there and kill it! She is 50, and she ran a 2:49, setting an age-group record, among her other dozens of notable racing accomplishments. We got some decent photos:
That is Joan with about a mile or two to go to the finish. Incredible! And here is a picture that we took of what really looked like two young boys making out with each other on the grass. It was really weird.
The rest of the day was spent eating, playing with the puppy, and playing video games. I highly recommend video games for day-before-the-race jitters. I may make Windwaker a pre-marathon tradition.
Monday - or - The Best Laid Plans
Ha ha ha, I'm so dramatic it's awesome. Kate and I woke up on time and I crapped as much as I could (if toilet discussion turns your stomach, you'd best switch blogs, because I love to talk about my crappin'). Crapping mid-run plagued my marathon training, and nothing puts a damper on a race more than having to crap in the middle of it. Anywho, I crapped. I ate a bagel, and Kate, with a trooper-like grimace, drove me into the heart of Boston to drop me off. I got in line to ride the buses to Hopkinton.
The way the start was organized was this: There were two waves, one leaving at 10 AM, the other at 10:30 AM. The people in Wave 1 wore bib numbers 1-13,999, and 14,000 and up were in wave 2.
Immediately I noticed that a lot of the people in line had bib numbers WAY higher than 14,000, even though they weren't supposed to get on the buses until 7 AM. Jerks. After a 1 hour bus ride to go 26 miles (booo) I arrived at the athlete's villate. I've never seen more porta-potties. And they were all in use. Mind-boggling.
After an hour or two of waiting around, we went to the start line. More waiting, this time in our individual corrals (1000 people/corral, I was #4056, so I was in corral 4). After a while I finally ditched the sweatshirt that Kate's brother gave me to wear and throw away, and the garbage-bag pants that I was wearing. Both were very necessary, because it was cold in the early morning, around 40 degrees or so.
When the gun went off, there was a lot of stop-and-go, but eventually I crossed the starting line and started to move. My first 8 miles all kind of blended together. I was trying hard to hold back, especially because of the downhills, but I couldn't go slower than 6:45/mile.
After 15 miles, I started to feel the tinge of pain in my left thigh. I knew what that meant, so I started taking water and gatorade at the stops (previously I had just been drinking from my fuel belt). At 18 miles, I was starting to hurt enough to walk the uphills. That sucked. Those hills were not fun. I was already looking for the next mile marker constantly. I pushed through the hills of Newton, and eventually made it down the other side of Heartbreak. I walked a lot of the last few miles, I was going pretty slow. My last few splits were 9:30 or so. But, luckily, I had enough time in the bank that it wasn't too terrible of a finish, and I had enough left in the tank to finish the last mile running nearly the entire way.
At the finish, I waded through the staggering masses and tried to get to my baggage buss. I was really annoyed with all the people who were taking their time, because I just wanted to get out of there. I got my bag quickly (very quickly, actually), and looked around... no Kate. That was our designated meeting point, so I was kind of bummed. I waited around for another 10 minutes, and started to get cold, so I pulled my mylar blanket close. It actually worked! It's the first time I've ever needed one of those things and it came through in the clutch. Way to go mylar.
Anywho, I called up Kate with a volunteer's phone (super-nice lady), and I found out that they were stuck in Newton because the trains were full. So I got on a train to Newton (runners ride free on Monday!) and met them there. Kate was crying, but I was just happy to see her. Then we went to Kate's brothers house and relaxed and I showered and ate super-fast and then Kate drove me to the airport.
Race-wise, I shouldn't have really been surprised, because I went too fast on my long runs. On my 20-mile long run, my legs were hurting and I was beat at the end, so I really shouldn't have been too surprised when that happened during the race. It's probably a combination of not enough base training and going out too fast.
Altogether, I'm not too disappointed because 3:13 isn't a bad time. It's 7 minutes slower than my qualifying time, which is pretty standard because most people qualify on an easier course. But, on the other hand, I kind of feel like a slacker for feeling satisfied, since it's really nowhere near where I wanted to run, and I really should have done better. I think if I had started training seriously earlier it would have helped a lot. I basically took off about 4 months after Cincinnatti and it showed. So, less of a break this time. I was only able to do as well as I did because of the constant encouragement and support of Kate "little coach" Nydam Meberg. She absolutely made sure that I didn't get lazy during my training, so my finisher's medal is at least half hers.
Okay, that's enough sap. Read nydampress for Kate's perspective. It was a fun weekend, but my legs still hurt (seriously ouch).
Friday, April 11, 2008
Traveling without your cellphone: Not recommended
This week I had a business trip to Alpharetta, GA. I hate that town. Seriously. It is a huge strip mall. Shopping center, shopping center, shopping center, subdivision subdivision, subdivision.
I can tell when I hate a town when it has clearly been designed for one reason: to facilitate automobile traffic. Every street that isn't a cul-de-sac in some twisted, meandering subdivision, is a 4-lane highway. The sidewalks are afterthoughts. Don't even think about a bike lane, or any speed limits less than 35 in non-residential areas.
Anywho, the worst part was, I forgot my cell phone at home. For 4 days, I was without it. That sucks, my friends.
Luckily, I was able to get ahold of some of the few people that I know in Atlanta. On Wednesday night I was alone (my co-worker had gone home already), and I drove to the Dick Lane Velodrome to watch the races.
Velodrome racing is fun as hell to watch. I found that my knowledge of track and field helped translate a little bit, because I could judge distance well. But the strategy is totally different because so many of the races are based on who gets the most points, so you are doing math in your head, and if you are in a group you are going to go faster than if you are by yourself, so you see lots of impromptu alliances between racers. The coolest thing I think was during the last race of the evening, a 40-lap points race for experts (that is 10 miles), one guy lapped the ENTIRE FIELD. That, my loyal readers, is tough as hell. I'm pretty sure I would have died trying to race these people. Serious, serious legs.
Anyway, the next day I finished work early and stopped by my friends' shop, No Brakes, and hug out for a bit. Cool little shop, kind of a bicycle boutique. If you've been to trackstar in NYC, it's a lot like that. Probably similar to Yojimbo's in Chicago as well (Ruth you should check that out).
When I got to the airport, I was surrounded by a bunch of surly folks of every race, and I was not surly, so I felt silly. And I started whistling to myself. This was the song I whistled:
I can tell when I hate a town when it has clearly been designed for one reason: to facilitate automobile traffic. Every street that isn't a cul-de-sac in some twisted, meandering subdivision, is a 4-lane highway. The sidewalks are afterthoughts. Don't even think about a bike lane, or any speed limits less than 35 in non-residential areas.
Anywho, the worst part was, I forgot my cell phone at home. For 4 days, I was without it. That sucks, my friends.
Luckily, I was able to get ahold of some of the few people that I know in Atlanta. On Wednesday night I was alone (my co-worker had gone home already), and I drove to the Dick Lane Velodrome to watch the races.
Velodrome racing is fun as hell to watch. I found that my knowledge of track and field helped translate a little bit, because I could judge distance well. But the strategy is totally different because so many of the races are based on who gets the most points, so you are doing math in your head, and if you are in a group you are going to go faster than if you are by yourself, so you see lots of impromptu alliances between racers. The coolest thing I think was during the last race of the evening, a 40-lap points race for experts (that is 10 miles), one guy lapped the ENTIRE FIELD. That, my loyal readers, is tough as hell. I'm pretty sure I would have died trying to race these people. Serious, serious legs.
Anyway, the next day I finished work early and stopped by my friends' shop, No Brakes, and hug out for a bit. Cool little shop, kind of a bicycle boutique. If you've been to trackstar in NYC, it's a lot like that. Probably similar to Yojimbo's in Chicago as well (Ruth you should check that out).
When I got to the airport, I was surrounded by a bunch of surly folks of every race, and I was not surly, so I felt silly. And I started whistling to myself. This was the song I whistled:
Monday, March 31, 2008
Things to learn about: LEASES
My wife and I have been saving monies for the past few years, getting together a decent amount of scratch for a down payment on a house. Yeah, I know, that's old-fashioned, who actually puts down a down payment anymore?
Well, turns out we are freaking prescient, because about nobody wants to give you a mortgage anymore unless you are sitting on a nest egg (like us) and have stellar credit ratings (like us). We were made in the shade. We got pre-approved for a no-fee mortgage over the internet (only $3,000 in closing costs). Whatever. We'd started doing drive-by's (the suburban, house-shopper kind) of houses we were looking at. We started getting our hearts set on places that were close to wooded areas, off of main roads, and had 2-3 bedrooms.
There was just one thing holding us back: We are still in a lease. I was under the impression that you could break a lease and just pay half a month's rent penalty as long as you gave 30 days notice. Turns out, no. You pay all the rent you agreed to pay for the entire term of the lease. That's a lot of money.
So, we are not buying a house now. We will wait until our lease runs out. Unless any smart commenters happen to be able to know how to bust the hell out of a lease with minimal penalty.
Also, Delta Airlines can kiss my grits. They cancelled about 250 flights in Atlanta last week, and then gave me a hotel voucher for a hotel that was already full. Worst. Night. Ever.
Well, turns out we are freaking prescient, because about nobody wants to give you a mortgage anymore unless you are sitting on a nest egg (like us) and have stellar credit ratings (like us). We were made in the shade. We got pre-approved for a no-fee mortgage over the internet (only $3,000 in closing costs). Whatever. We'd started doing drive-by's (the suburban, house-shopper kind) of houses we were looking at. We started getting our hearts set on places that were close to wooded areas, off of main roads, and had 2-3 bedrooms.
There was just one thing holding us back: We are still in a lease. I was under the impression that you could break a lease and just pay half a month's rent penalty as long as you gave 30 days notice. Turns out, no. You pay all the rent you agreed to pay for the entire term of the lease. That's a lot of money.
So, we are not buying a house now. We will wait until our lease runs out. Unless any smart commenters happen to be able to know how to bust the hell out of a lease with minimal penalty.
Also, Delta Airlines can kiss my grits. They cancelled about 250 flights in Atlanta last week, and then gave me a hotel voucher for a hotel that was already full. Worst. Night. Ever.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Amped on pancakes and peppered-chicken
We've got one of these coming in the mail soon:
It's called a Griddler, which sounds like a cartoon character, but is actually a portal to a place I like to call "flavor country". It can either operate as a George Forman-esque dual-sided grill, or it opens up all the way and you can swap the plates to that it is a large, flat griddle. Non-stick, and the plates are machine washable. It's like this thing was designed for us.
Want a panini (fancy name for an expensive sandwich)? How about some pancakes? Hamburgers? Bacon? 6 chicken breasts covered with black pepper? WE CAN DO THAT.
This is going to be awesome. I'm going to make pancakes, and we will love our little griddler.
It's called a Griddler, which sounds like a cartoon character, but is actually a portal to a place I like to call "flavor country". It can either operate as a George Forman-esque dual-sided grill, or it opens up all the way and you can swap the plates to that it is a large, flat griddle. Non-stick, and the plates are machine washable. It's like this thing was designed for us.
Want a panini (fancy name for an expensive sandwich)? How about some pancakes? Hamburgers? Bacon? 6 chicken breasts covered with black pepper? WE CAN DO THAT.
This is going to be awesome. I'm going to make pancakes, and we will love our little griddler.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Two great things
First, this video:
I love how the countries/ethnicities are represented by various foods. Especially the Bahn Mi.
Second, this excerpt of an interview with world-famous rapper DMX. Be forewarned! The dude curses, and you will encounter some of the curse words he uses. If you are not accustomed to the company of sailors, you may find it crude. But still hilarious:
Are you following the presidential race?
Not at all.
You’re not? You know there’s a Black guy running, Barack Obama and then there’s Hillary Clinton.
His name is Barack?!
Barack Obama, yeah.
Barack?!
Barack.
What the fuck is a Barack?! Barack Obama. Where he from, Africa?
Yeah, his dad is from Kenya.
Barack Obama?
Yeah.
What the fuck?! That ain’t no fuckin’ name, yo. That ain’t that nigga’s name. You can’t be serious. Barack Obama. Get the fuck outta here.
You’re telling me you haven’t heard about him before.
I ain’t really paying much attention.
I mean, it’s pretty big if a Black…
Wow, Barack! The nigga’s name is Barack. Barack? Nigga named Barack Obama. What the fuck, man?! Is he serious? That ain’t his fuckin’ name. Ima tell this nigga when I see him, “Stop that bullshit. Stop that bullshit” [laughs] “That ain’t your fuckin’ name.” Your momma ain’t name you no damn Barack.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is America, and it is hilarious.
I love how the countries/ethnicities are represented by various foods. Especially the Bahn Mi.
Second, this excerpt of an interview with world-famous rapper DMX. Be forewarned! The dude curses, and you will encounter some of the curse words he uses. If you are not accustomed to the company of sailors, you may find it crude. But still hilarious:
Are you following the presidential race?
Not at all.
You’re not? You know there’s a Black guy running, Barack Obama and then there’s Hillary Clinton.
His name is Barack?!
Barack Obama, yeah.
Barack?!
Barack.
What the fuck is a Barack?! Barack Obama. Where he from, Africa?
Yeah, his dad is from Kenya.
Barack Obama?
Yeah.
What the fuck?! That ain’t no fuckin’ name, yo. That ain’t that nigga’s name. You can’t be serious. Barack Obama. Get the fuck outta here.
You’re telling me you haven’t heard about him before.
I ain’t really paying much attention.
I mean, it’s pretty big if a Black…
Wow, Barack! The nigga’s name is Barack. Barack? Nigga named Barack Obama. What the fuck, man?! Is he serious? That ain’t his fuckin’ name. Ima tell this nigga when I see him, “Stop that bullshit. Stop that bullshit” [laughs] “That ain’t your fuckin’ name.” Your momma ain’t name you no damn Barack.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is America, and it is hilarious.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Hey Internet
I haven't posted in a while? What's up?
Just wanted to drop this tidbit I gathered after reading some links on my older sis's bloggity-blog:
The Coen Brothers are going to adapt The Yiddish Policemen's Union.
I'm half-way through the book right now (kind of stuck and half-way because I forgot it at my in-laws' house). If there is one type of movie the Coens do well, it's a weird noir film, and if there were a story that begged for a weird noir treatment, it was this one.
Based in an alternate-reality where the Jewish refugees from WWII settled in the Sitka of Alaska instead of Israel, a cop looks for the murderer of a potential-messiah who was excommunicated for homosexuality. Chess, drugs, pie, religion, mysticism, and Sam-Spade style narration abound.
I can foresee this being the Big Lebowski with more Yiddish and less weed.
Just wanted to drop this tidbit I gathered after reading some links on my older sis's bloggity-blog:
The Coen Brothers are going to adapt The Yiddish Policemen's Union.
I'm half-way through the book right now (kind of stuck and half-way because I forgot it at my in-laws' house). If there is one type of movie the Coens do well, it's a weird noir film, and if there were a story that begged for a weird noir treatment, it was this one.
Based in an alternate-reality where the Jewish refugees from WWII settled in the Sitka of Alaska instead of Israel, a cop looks for the murderer of a potential-messiah who was excommunicated for homosexuality. Chess, drugs, pie, religion, mysticism, and Sam-Spade style narration abound.
I can foresee this being the Big Lebowski with more Yiddish and less weed.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Hypocrite Alert
So, totally recanting a post. This weekend, we bought Guitar Hero for Wii, now that it is in stock again. So. Much. Fun.
Kate is even enjoying it, which is good because she never played the real guitar. She is slowly working her way through the beginner songs. Once she learns to relax when playing, I think she will do even better. Right now she says her hands hurt from playing, which is really a bad sign when you are playing the easiest, slowest songs on Beginner.
If you have this game, and a Wii, you should send me your Online player ID# so that we can play online. That would be dope. Also, somebody will have to visit us and bring a guitar controller so that we can unlock the remaining songs.
Work sucks, they make me come in like-a ev-er-y day. Nobody will get that reference.
Take it easy, internets.
Kate is even enjoying it, which is good because she never played the real guitar. She is slowly working her way through the beginner songs. Once she learns to relax when playing, I think she will do even better. Right now she says her hands hurt from playing, which is really a bad sign when you are playing the easiest, slowest songs on Beginner.
If you have this game, and a Wii, you should send me your Online player ID# so that we can play online. That would be dope. Also, somebody will have to visit us and bring a guitar controller so that we can unlock the remaining songs.
Work sucks, they make me come in like-a ev-er-y day. Nobody will get that reference.
Take it easy, internets.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Hillary probably didn't win the primary there...
Kansas that is. This story tells us how a female referee was stopped from officiating a boys highschool basketball game.
"The reason given, according to the referees: Campbell, as a woman, could not be put in a position of authority over boys because of the academy's beliefs."
Can you believe this stuff?
As I read the article, I found a few more interesting points.
Huh. This church has been around for less time than ME. Sweet.
"The reason given, according to the referees: Campbell, as a woman, could not be put in a position of authority over boys because of the academy's beliefs."
Can you believe this stuff?
As I read the article, I found a few more interesting points.
- Despite the school's name (St. Mary's), the school is NOT catholic. It is owned and operated by the Society of St. Pius X.
- The society's world leader, the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, was excommunicated by Pope John Paul II in the late 1980s.
Huh. This church has been around for less time than ME. Sweet.
Race? I love to race! Oh wait...
The other day, I stumbled upon This blog. Now, I love satire, but I can pretty much say I've never been personally the subject of it before. It's kind of weird.
I mean, I'm white (as you can tell by the bicycle - bikes are one of the things that white people like). And as a white person, I understand that I probably have a better life because of it. It's not something I'm proud of, but I will admit that having pale skin and a non-ethnic name has probably helped me in my life. Thus, I'm skeptical of people who complain about "reverse-racism" and crap like that because it's garbage.
But I've never really heard any negative connotations about being white before, other than the obvious "they can't dance and they like mayonnaise". And I never even heard the mayonnaise part before Undercover Brother. It seems like every other race has some sort of negative stereotype that the anonymous cabal of racists keeps pushing on us. Well, now there is a list (a numbered list!) of things that White People like, and how wrong they are for liking them.
I don't think it would bother me so much if it weren't so accurate. I mean, that list is basically describing me and my friends. The numbers that fit me are: 3-16,18-20,23,25-27,30,31,33,35-45,55,48-53,55,58,61, and 63. That is a LOT. I mean, that's 70%. In college, that would have been a C. Getting a C on describing me without having ever met me is is pretty damned creepy.
But, the thing is, a lot of people like that stuff. The only thing I can think of as an illustration of how dumb stuff like this is the stereotype that black people like fried chicken and watermelon. Everybody likes fried chicken and watermelon, that stuff tastes good. Also, the "Jews like money," bit. Well, seriously, find me a person who hates money and I will show you a freaking anomaly. Money can be used to purchase goods and services. You'd be hard pressed to find somebody who doesn't like goods and services, they are the bomb.
I think I know what David Chappelle was getting across in his sketch where he is on an airplane, and he doesn't want to order the chicken dinner, because he hates playing into the minstrel-show black stereotype. I mean, I felt self-conscious about liking NPR. Seriously. I mean, I'm probably not going to stop liking snowboarding or bikes or stuff like that. And Panera makes some damn good sandwiches. But it's hard not to hear a little bell ring every time I chick off another mark on the list.
What I do like about the list is the things that I feel don't describe me. Liking "Thinking they know what is best for poor people." I'm very confident that I have no idea what is best for poor people. So, no skin off my nose. And "The Toyota Prius". Aside from the exterior design (it is the most aerodynamic car on the road), it is a nearly negligible improvement over a regular economy car. And it uses highly toxic batteries which will need to be replaced every 7 years.
How does the list make you feel? How much applies to you? I almost prefaced those questions with racial identifiers, but I don't think it's necessary.
I mean, I'm white (as you can tell by the bicycle - bikes are one of the things that white people like). And as a white person, I understand that I probably have a better life because of it. It's not something I'm proud of, but I will admit that having pale skin and a non-ethnic name has probably helped me in my life. Thus, I'm skeptical of people who complain about "reverse-racism" and crap like that because it's garbage.
But I've never really heard any negative connotations about being white before, other than the obvious "they can't dance and they like mayonnaise". And I never even heard the mayonnaise part before Undercover Brother. It seems like every other race has some sort of negative stereotype that the anonymous cabal of racists keeps pushing on us. Well, now there is a list (a numbered list!) of things that White People like, and how wrong they are for liking them.
I don't think it would bother me so much if it weren't so accurate. I mean, that list is basically describing me and my friends. The numbers that fit me are: 3-16,18-20,23,25-27,30,31,33,35-45,55,48-53,55,58,61, and 63. That is a LOT. I mean, that's 70%. In college, that would have been a C. Getting a C on describing me without having ever met me is is pretty damned creepy.
But, the thing is, a lot of people like that stuff. The only thing I can think of as an illustration of how dumb stuff like this is the stereotype that black people like fried chicken and watermelon. Everybody likes fried chicken and watermelon, that stuff tastes good. Also, the "Jews like money," bit. Well, seriously, find me a person who hates money and I will show you a freaking anomaly. Money can be used to purchase goods and services. You'd be hard pressed to find somebody who doesn't like goods and services, they are the bomb.
I think I know what David Chappelle was getting across in his sketch where he is on an airplane, and he doesn't want to order the chicken dinner, because he hates playing into the minstrel-show black stereotype. I mean, I felt self-conscious about liking NPR. Seriously. I mean, I'm probably not going to stop liking snowboarding or bikes or stuff like that. And Panera makes some damn good sandwiches. But it's hard not to hear a little bell ring every time I chick off another mark on the list.
What I do like about the list is the things that I feel don't describe me. Liking "Thinking they know what is best for poor people." I'm very confident that I have no idea what is best for poor people. So, no skin off my nose. And "The Toyota Prius". Aside from the exterior design (it is the most aerodynamic car on the road), it is a nearly negligible improvement over a regular economy car. And it uses highly toxic batteries which will need to be replaced every 7 years.
How does the list make you feel? How much applies to you? I almost prefaced those questions with racial identifiers, but I don't think it's necessary.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Bike Drama
Here's a story that nobody will enjoy.
In December I bought this bike on the local Craigslist for a song:
Pretty sweet, right? It's a 1993 Eddie Merckx Corsa. Columbus SL tubing, full 8-speed Chorus build... pretty sweet, right? It even has tubular rims.
Right there, that is the sand in the ointment. Tubular rims, for those unaware, don't take a normal "inner-tube + tire" setup. Tubular rims use tubular tires. That is, the tire is actually a solid tube. With an inner-tube sewn inside of it. This allows the use of much more supple rubber or something, so everybody says that tubulars have a great "feel". Most pro racers (and even a lot of amateur ones) use tubulars for racing.
So what's so bad about that? High end, pro-level wheels. That should be pretty rad, right? Well, if the tires are tubular, there is no bead to catch under a rim like normal "clincher" rims. "So how are they attached to the rim?" someone might ask. They are glued.
That's right. The tires are literally glued to the rim. This is fine for racing, where if you get a flat you are basically out of the running anyways and a car will come pick you up and drive you to the finish. But if you are not racing (like me), getting a flat means a 10+ mile walk in cycling shoes, which is about as graceful as a horse walking on its hind legs.
So, what to people do? Most folks get another set of wheels that use "clincher" tires, which are usually inexpensive (for bike parts), and just train on these wheels, and pull out the tubulars for racing. So, I need a set of training wheels (ha ha ha). Therein lies another great conflict.
My bike has (as previously mentioned) a Campagnolo drivetrain. Most wheels nowadays are Shimano compatible. If you have paid any attention to road bicycles in the past 20 years, you are probably aware of the rivalry/lack of compatibility between these two companies. If you ask some people, mixing the two is akin to beastiality. It's just not done, and it is a crime against whichever manufacturer they prefer.
So, I was stuck looking for a Campy wheelset, since a Campy cassette (the gears on the rear wheel) will only fit on a Campy wheel. After a lot of searching, I found that even the cheapest Campy wheelset was about $300, which is almost what I paid for my bike. Then, I learned that an 8-speed cassette won't even fit on a modern campy wheel, which will only take a campy 9 or 10 speed cassette. Campy 8-speed compatible wheels are super-rare now, and thus command quite a premium. Things were looking grim.
Luckily, I discovered that the only difference between a Campy 8-speed cassette and a Shimano 8-speed cassette is that on the shimano cassette the gears are slightly further apart. So, I found a cheap wheelset, and can take apart the cassette and make it work with my Campy drivetrain. Whee! Everybody is happy (especially Kate).
How am I paying for this, when we are trying to save money, you might ask? There is a book that somebody keeps telling people is "essential" for runners to read. It is a pretty good book, but "essential" might be a stretch. It is called Once a Runner.
It is currently out of print. After 25-some years, the author has written a sequel. Demand for the book is (apparently) ridiculous. My brother Dave turned me onto this, because I got him a copy for Christmas a few years ago, and it is in mint condition, so he is selling it. I also got Kate a copy. Hers had one slight mark on the spine, so we looked on Amazon. The lowest price they were being sold for was $150. For a paperback book. We put ours up for sale for $140, and it sold. Best investment ever.
So, that is the story of my bike wheels. Yay!
In December I bought this bike on the local Craigslist for a song:
Pretty sweet, right? It's a 1993 Eddie Merckx Corsa. Columbus SL tubing, full 8-speed Chorus build... pretty sweet, right? It even has tubular rims.
Right there, that is the sand in the ointment. Tubular rims, for those unaware, don't take a normal "inner-tube + tire" setup. Tubular rims use tubular tires. That is, the tire is actually a solid tube. With an inner-tube sewn inside of it. This allows the use of much more supple rubber or something, so everybody says that tubulars have a great "feel". Most pro racers (and even a lot of amateur ones) use tubulars for racing.
So what's so bad about that? High end, pro-level wheels. That should be pretty rad, right? Well, if the tires are tubular, there is no bead to catch under a rim like normal "clincher" rims. "So how are they attached to the rim?" someone might ask. They are glued.
That's right. The tires are literally glued to the rim. This is fine for racing, where if you get a flat you are basically out of the running anyways and a car will come pick you up and drive you to the finish. But if you are not racing (like me), getting a flat means a 10+ mile walk in cycling shoes, which is about as graceful as a horse walking on its hind legs.
So, what to people do? Most folks get another set of wheels that use "clincher" tires, which are usually inexpensive (for bike parts), and just train on these wheels, and pull out the tubulars for racing. So, I need a set of training wheels (ha ha ha). Therein lies another great conflict.
My bike has (as previously mentioned) a Campagnolo drivetrain. Most wheels nowadays are Shimano compatible. If you have paid any attention to road bicycles in the past 20 years, you are probably aware of the rivalry/lack of compatibility between these two companies. If you ask some people, mixing the two is akin to beastiality. It's just not done, and it is a crime against whichever manufacturer they prefer.
So, I was stuck looking for a Campy wheelset, since a Campy cassette (the gears on the rear wheel) will only fit on a Campy wheel. After a lot of searching, I found that even the cheapest Campy wheelset was about $300, which is almost what I paid for my bike. Then, I learned that an 8-speed cassette won't even fit on a modern campy wheel, which will only take a campy 9 or 10 speed cassette. Campy 8-speed compatible wheels are super-rare now, and thus command quite a premium. Things were looking grim.
Luckily, I discovered that the only difference between a Campy 8-speed cassette and a Shimano 8-speed cassette is that on the shimano cassette the gears are slightly further apart. So, I found a cheap wheelset, and can take apart the cassette and make it work with my Campy drivetrain. Whee! Everybody is happy (especially Kate).
How am I paying for this, when we are trying to save money, you might ask? There is a book that somebody keeps telling people is "essential" for runners to read. It is a pretty good book, but "essential" might be a stretch. It is called Once a Runner.
It is currently out of print. After 25-some years, the author has written a sequel. Demand for the book is (apparently) ridiculous. My brother Dave turned me onto this, because I got him a copy for Christmas a few years ago, and it is in mint condition, so he is selling it. I also got Kate a copy. Hers had one slight mark on the spine, so we looked on Amazon. The lowest price they were being sold for was $150. For a paperback book. We put ours up for sale for $140, and it sold. Best investment ever.
So, that is the story of my bike wheels. Yay!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Awesome Times
Time: last evening
Dialogue between: NydamPress and Aaronplane
NP: (something funny that makes me laugh)
AP: HA ha ha ha!
NP: That was quite a gustaw you let out.
AP: Yeah, I guess that was funny though.
(pause)
AP: Did you say "gustaw"? (pronounced like the first two syllables in "gestapo")
NP: Yeah.
AP: What is a "gustaw"?
NP: It's a big, hearty laugh. My english teacher once said I had a healthy gustaw.
AP: I'm going to look that up.
NP: Fine, you'll see that I'm right. It's a laugh.
AP: I think you are thinking of "guffaw".
NP: NOOOOOO! Stop!
AP: I am blogging this.
Dialogue between: NydamPress and Aaronplane
NP: (something funny that makes me laugh)
AP: HA ha ha ha!
NP: That was quite a gustaw you let out.
AP: Yeah, I guess that was funny though.
(pause)
AP: Did you say "gustaw"? (pronounced like the first two syllables in "gestapo")
NP: Yeah.
AP: What is a "gustaw"?
NP: It's a big, hearty laugh. My english teacher once said I had a healthy gustaw.
AP: I'm going to look that up.
NP: Fine, you'll see that I'm right. It's a laugh.
AP: I think you are thinking of "guffaw".
NP: NOOOOOO! Stop!
AP: I am blogging this.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Valentines Schmalentines
A paraphrased exchange between NydamPress and I last night:
(after seeing an ad for "Jumper")
Me: Ooh, Jumper comes out on valentine's day. Maybe we could go see it?
NP: You really want to do something for valentine's day?
Me: Not really.
NP: All I want for valentine's day is to go to CVS the day after and buy a bunch of candy.
Me: I love you.
(after seeing an ad for "Jumper")
Me: Ooh, Jumper comes out on valentine's day. Maybe we could go see it?
NP: You really want to do something for valentine's day?
Me: Not really.
NP: All I want for valentine's day is to go to CVS the day after and buy a bunch of candy.
Me: I love you.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Saving Money Milestone
We are saving money. This is usually a prime point of discussion between my wife and I .
Over Christmas vacation, we (really, I) played Guitar Hero. A lot. I love that game. I have been wanting to get it for our own Wii.
Guitar Hero costs at least $90. Thus the conflict.
Last night, I realized that playing guitar (a real one, the one I already own), is also pretty fun.
I told Kate, "I don't think we need to get Guitar Hero right now."
Last night I learned the chords to "Total Eclipse of the Heart". That song seriously has like 11 chords in it, so it is fun.
Not as fun as "Cool Thing" on Medium, but still.
Over Christmas vacation, we (really, I) played Guitar Hero. A lot. I love that game. I have been wanting to get it for our own Wii.
Guitar Hero costs at least $90. Thus the conflict.
Last night, I realized that playing guitar (a real one, the one I already own), is also pretty fun.
I told Kate, "I don't think we need to get Guitar Hero right now."
Last night I learned the chords to "Total Eclipse of the Heart". That song seriously has like 11 chords in it, so it is fun.
Not as fun as "Cool Thing" on Medium, but still.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Marathons and stuff
I was reading my wife's blog and was reminded we saw a movie last night. It was pretty good. The movie is a documentary of sorts about six different people and their preparation and completion of the Chicago Marathon in 2005. Some notably funny parts:
The almost-my-speed guy who is trying to qualify for Boston is talking with some friends and he complains that "The qualifying times for Boston are totally skewed towards women and older people." As he says this, you can see his wife (who already qualified) give him a look. Even I wanted to smack the guy.
That same guy describes lists reasons why Chicago is such a popular marathon: "... it's in October so it's usually pretty cool." This year at least one person died, many were hospitalized, and they had to shut down the course due to water-shortages caused by the oppressive heat.
Altogether though, it was good. There were old people, babies, an elite man and woman in the coverage, so it was pretty balanced.
The reason I posted this though was because I came up with a good way to describe what it's like to run a marathon. Every training run you do is like putting money in the bank. In fact, I've had a few coaches call workouts "putting money in the bank". And when you have a marathon, it's a big withdrawal.
So, so me, training for a marathon is like saving up for a big purchase (like a car). And not just because you put money in the bank, but you hope what you bought is something good. My first marathon went horribly. Kind of like saving up for a BMW, only to find out that it was actually a rusted out Datsun. So on my second marathon, where things actually went as planned, it was so awesome to save up for my BMW, go to the BMW dealer, and actually drive home in a BMW.
Side note: It is physically hard for me to type BMW. Every single time I type BMX first, and then fix it. I miss my BMX bike. :(
The almost-my-speed guy who is trying to qualify for Boston is talking with some friends and he complains that "The qualifying times for Boston are totally skewed towards women and older people." As he says this, you can see his wife (who already qualified) give him a look. Even I wanted to smack the guy.
That same guy describes lists reasons why Chicago is such a popular marathon: "... it's in October so it's usually pretty cool." This year at least one person died, many were hospitalized, and they had to shut down the course due to water-shortages caused by the oppressive heat.
Altogether though, it was good. There were old people, babies, an elite man and woman in the coverage, so it was pretty balanced.
The reason I posted this though was because I came up with a good way to describe what it's like to run a marathon. Every training run you do is like putting money in the bank. In fact, I've had a few coaches call workouts "putting money in the bank". And when you have a marathon, it's a big withdrawal.
So, so me, training for a marathon is like saving up for a big purchase (like a car). And not just because you put money in the bank, but you hope what you bought is something good. My first marathon went horribly. Kind of like saving up for a BMW, only to find out that it was actually a rusted out Datsun. So on my second marathon, where things actually went as planned, it was so awesome to save up for my BMW, go to the BMW dealer, and actually drive home in a BMW.
Side note: It is physically hard for me to type BMW. Every single time I type BMX first, and then fix it. I miss my BMX bike. :(
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
How to be a frugal traveler
I feel like I've got some experience in this now that Kate and I have planned a May vacation/escape thingy that entails us going to Minneapolis, Fargo, San Francisco, and Boston over the course of a week. Here's my top 5 methods for doing it on the cheap.
- Stay with family, hotels are expensive. Yeah, it's kind of obvious. And it limits your travel options. But if you are lucky like us, you have family all over the place. As of this summer we will have family in Minneapolis, Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston. That's four of the coolest cities in the US. Add in my friends in NYC, and you've got your bases covered. This also saves money on food, because you don't have to go out for every meal, and you can even cook up a good meal to make up for the fact that you are messing with your hosts' schedules.
- Use kayak.com, but don't use it. Kayak the best travel website I've ever used. It is the dogpile of travel websites. It searches all the other travel websites (expedia, orbitz, travelocity, all the airlines websites, etc.) and gives you the best prices. Then, when you find the cheapest flight, go to the airline to buy that exact same flight. This keeps you from paying the service fee of travelocity/orbitz/etc. It's not a lot you save by going directly to the flight, but it's something. We saved around $100 on this go-round by doing that.
- If it's multi-destination, fly on multiple carriers. This is because all airlines work the same way: unless you get a rare direct flight, they fly you to a hub airport, and then out of the hub to your destination. Which is all well and good, unless you are traveling to multiple cities. For instance, our first flight to Minneapolis is easy to get a flight on Frontier, because it is a hub for Frontier's hub is in Minneapolis. Our second flight goes to SF, and that is a hub for another airline. Our third goes to Boston, and that is a hub for another. Flying on one airline for all three flights would be much more expensive than if we switched. We didn't know this always. We can't help but regret our method for flying to Minneapolis, and then from Fargo to Hartford this winter. Since only two airlines fly out of Fargo, our flights to Minneapolis were far more limited that they would have been had we flown on another carrier. And far more expensive. Never again!
- Start at the biggest airport you can get to. For this trip, we are flying our of Boston. Our nearest airport, Bradley, is only 45 minutes away, but we are flying out of Boston because the flights are about $100 cheaper, each way. That's more than enough to cover the cost of gas and parking, so we are going to Boston. You have to work out your own cost/benefit analysis, but for us it really works out.
So there you go. Aaron's four tips for keeping in the black during travel. Wooo!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Eating animals and their delicious bodily secretions
Just thought I'd drop a little rant. Apparently the FDA has said that cloned animals are safe to eat. As somebody who has the most basic understanding of biology, I say, "No s***, sherlock". I can understand (maybe) being worried about irradiated stuff, hormones, steroids, and all that other "flavor-enhancers" that probably wind up in my Oscar Meyer. The whole point of cloning is that the animals are the same. Same when they are alive, same when they are dead, same when cooked at 350 and basted every 15 minutes with olive oil and sage. They are basically forced-twins. And I don't know if you've ever eaten twin cows before, but let me tell you, they are delicious.
Funnily enough, some people are saying that the advent (and possible popularity) of cloned meat will cause more people to switch to Vegetarianism, or even Veganism. I've got my thoughts on the subject, and the internet is always listening, so here goes:
In my mind, the purpose of altering your diet from the norm is to correct for dietary changes that have been made over time (specifically relating to animals). Changes are generally made in a sequential order (you've got to screw up one thing before you screw up something else), so to me it makes more sense to fix the latest change first. In this case, the changes have been made by humanity as a whole. So, let's go back to the latest mistake, probably 40 or so years ago: the use of growth hormones, steroids, and all that great stuff in animals that we eat. Easy enough to correct, just don't eat any meats that are made with that stuff. Fine (hopefully, the USDA is helping us label this stuff, I have no idea, and am just an ignorant eater of food.)
Second change, probably about 100 or so years ago: using excessive preservatives in foods like bologna, hotdogs, sandwich meat, etc. Fine. Easy fix, only eat fresh stuff. (Guilty, I love a hotdog).
Third change (and here is where we start going back a ways, probably 150 or so years): Animals that are factory raised. This is another easy fix, only buy free-range food. "Free-range" by definition is probably overkill for this change, but it let's me skip steps. This is the first step where you've got to start shopping at Whole Foods or something, so pay attention.
Fourth change: If you think about it, before the industrial revolution, the only real changes in the agricultural industry was the fact that it started. So, if you want to go that far (about 3,000 years or something like that), you've got to give up eating any meat that wasn't hunted. No more farm-raised anything. And definitely no dairy (ever tried milking a wild cow?) and a lot less eggs. So at this point you are at the doorstep of veganism, but far from vegetarianism.
Fifth change: We are already back into the pre-historical times of hunter-gatherers, since agriculture was the rock upon which civilization was built. So how much further do we go back? Well, according to most evolutionary biologists (most biologists), our digestive system is much more like that of a herbivore than a carnivore. The digestive track of a carnivore (like a tiger) is pretty much a straight shot, stomach to butthole. Herbivores' take a winding path. Hell, a cow has four stomachs. According to my hazy memory, our small intestines are around 54 feet long. That sounds pretty planty to me. At this point, we've probably traveled back before the time that we were exclusively bipedal (if you believe that hogwash).
So, back to the veganism/vegan/whole-foods shopper thing. This is my viewpoint:
If you say "I only eat free-range meats," that's basically saying "I think society took a dietary wrong turn about 150 years ago (at the latest), and blah blah blah."
If you say "I am vegan," you're saying "I think society took a dietary wrong turn around 3000 years ago, and the rest is mostly academic."
If you say "I am vegetarian," you're saying "I think humanity took a wrong turn when we started killing animals."
But other animals hunt for food. And they aren't wrong to do so (presumably, animals seem to get a free ride when it comes to questions of their motives). So, the question is, have humans evolved to the point where we don't need animals to survive any longer? Did we ever? How does cannibalism fit in? This issue just got a whole lot more interesting that cloned pigs.
Funnily enough, some people are saying that the advent (and possible popularity) of cloned meat will cause more people to switch to Vegetarianism, or even Veganism. I've got my thoughts on the subject, and the internet is always listening, so here goes:
In my mind, the purpose of altering your diet from the norm is to correct for dietary changes that have been made over time (specifically relating to animals). Changes are generally made in a sequential order (you've got to screw up one thing before you screw up something else), so to me it makes more sense to fix the latest change first. In this case, the changes have been made by humanity as a whole. So, let's go back to the latest mistake, probably 40 or so years ago: the use of growth hormones, steroids, and all that great stuff in animals that we eat. Easy enough to correct, just don't eat any meats that are made with that stuff. Fine (hopefully, the USDA is helping us label this stuff, I have no idea, and am just an ignorant eater of food.)
Second change, probably about 100 or so years ago: using excessive preservatives in foods like bologna, hotdogs, sandwich meat, etc. Fine. Easy fix, only eat fresh stuff. (Guilty, I love a hotdog).
Third change (and here is where we start going back a ways, probably 150 or so years): Animals that are factory raised. This is another easy fix, only buy free-range food. "Free-range" by definition is probably overkill for this change, but it let's me skip steps. This is the first step where you've got to start shopping at Whole Foods or something, so pay attention.
Fourth change: If you think about it, before the industrial revolution, the only real changes in the agricultural industry was the fact that it started. So, if you want to go that far (about 3,000 years or something like that), you've got to give up eating any meat that wasn't hunted. No more farm-raised anything. And definitely no dairy (ever tried milking a wild cow?) and a lot less eggs. So at this point you are at the doorstep of veganism, but far from vegetarianism.
Fifth change: We are already back into the pre-historical times of hunter-gatherers, since agriculture was the rock upon which civilization was built. So how much further do we go back? Well, according to most evolutionary biologists (most biologists), our digestive system is much more like that of a herbivore than a carnivore. The digestive track of a carnivore (like a tiger) is pretty much a straight shot, stomach to butthole. Herbivores' take a winding path. Hell, a cow has four stomachs. According to my hazy memory, our small intestines are around 54 feet long. That sounds pretty planty to me. At this point, we've probably traveled back before the time that we were exclusively bipedal (if you believe that hogwash).
So, back to the veganism/vegan/whole-foods shopper thing. This is my viewpoint:
If you say "I only eat free-range meats," that's basically saying "I think society took a dietary wrong turn about 150 years ago (at the latest), and blah blah blah."
If you say "I am vegan," you're saying "I think society took a dietary wrong turn around 3000 years ago, and the rest is mostly academic."
If you say "I am vegetarian," you're saying "I think humanity took a wrong turn when we started killing animals."
But other animals hunt for food. And they aren't wrong to do so (presumably, animals seem to get a free ride when it comes to questions of their motives). So, the question is, have humans evolved to the point where we don't need animals to survive any longer? Did we ever? How does cannibalism fit in? This issue just got a whole lot more interesting that cloned pigs.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Hello World
... and thus tradition is carried on for the creation of yet another blog. The internet shudders with the mundane.
Yeah, I'm basically just going to post stuff that I see elsewhere and is fun, and maybe some photos that I take. Sometime. Maybe.
Yeah, I'm basically just going to post stuff that I see elsewhere and is fun, and maybe some photos that I take. Sometime. Maybe.
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